Typically, installing an electrical box to a ceiling joist is cumbersome. An installer must keep control of the electrical box itself in addition to all of the other elements of the assembly and the tools to be used during the installation. Often, one or more of the items necessary for installation of the electrical box are dropped by the installer, resulting in frustration for the installer and delay. Additionally, various tasks are often performed after an initial installation step, but before the final installation step, requiring the installer to keep track of various items necessary for final installation. Further, if the mounting bracket of the ceiling fan or lighting fixture does not line up with the mounting holes in the electrical box, the installer is often required to make various inconvenient and difficult accommodations to properly mount the ceiling fan or lighting fixture.
Although various electrical boxes have been developed, none of the prior art devices adequately satisfy the above-mentioned problems.
Examples of prior art electrical boxes are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. No. 1,800,484 to Thomas, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,189 to Jorgensen et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,944 to Rodick; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,088 to Jorgensen et al., and in Canadian Patent Application Serial No. 2,137,987 to Kerr.
Thus, there is a continuing need to provide elements for facilitating the installation of electrical boxes, especially with respect to the installation of ceiling fans and lighting fixtures. This invention addresses these needs in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art once given this disclosure.